shallow sleep
by oONekomataOo
Summary: Yes, it's another one of those Kuronue Comes Back fics. Because I love them. This time Kuro' and the Tentai face a monster, a magician, and a mad cow.
1. Chapter 1

shallow sleep

by: oONekomataOo

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own YYH and I fall asleep sobbing every night because I don't own Kurama, Kuronue, or even Teh Smexy Hat _(giggle, snort). _

**WARNING: **Probably some OOCness, language, Pocky conspiracies, and flirty bats.

Neko: I've had the idea to do this fic for awhile, but kept going off into 10 million different directions with it. It got to the point where writing it caused me to bash my head into my desk, which….looking back probably caused more than a little brain damage to an already crazy Pocky-addicted freak. But whatever. I ended up splitting my story into 3 different ones yet still couldn't find the right motivation. Then I heard hyde's (of L'Arcenciel) _Shallow Sleep_, blinked, squee'd, and started to write up the rough draft again with an actual title this time.

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Limbo smelled like old ladies. Or at least that's what this particular soul thought it would if he was actually still capable of smelling in his current bodiless form. But you couldn't really blame him for making the assumption, because Limbo wasn't exactly the most exciting place in the universe. Unless you found an endless mass of swirling darkness fun anyway.

Quite simply: Limbo sucked. Limbo sucked ass. One could occasionally bump into another unfortunate soul doomed to float around its infinite swimming pool of darkness, but they weren't exactly chatty. The best you could really do was hope to find an axe-murderer or something to tell you about how he killed over thirty people before the cops even caught on, escaped prison twice, slaughtered bunnies for fun, eluded the police force once more, and finally died by tripping over his own shoelaces and getting run over by a bus. And that was on a good day.

Sometimes you'd be unfortunate enough to find some whacko scientist that was all too happy to regale you with his life story that mainly consisted of experimenting on anything from snails to humans. This eventually led to a lecture on how the weapon of mass destruction that they had secretly developed, which led to rants about how The Man had unfairly passed judgment on them and threw them in here. Those were the days that you wish you could somehow kill yourself again. Today was one of those days.

The soul of the former Makaiin thief quickly descended into one of the upper lairs of Limbo. He had two unfortunate meetings with a psycho math professor that drove his former students mentally insane with his polynomial functions and quadratic equations. Then he had the horrid luck of running into one of the ex-demon lords he and his partner in crime had stolen from. He caught hell for that. Yep, today was definitely not Kuronue's day.

Floating about in the cloudy air, the koumori noticed a cluster of souls zipping around in an erratic formation. Now, it was semi-normal to see one or two souls together, but nine or ten was almost unheard of. Kuronue edged closer.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked the soul nearest to him.

"The Master…he comes…"

"He returns to us…the Great One…"

"Our Master…he comes…"

"Sorry I asked."

Tempted to leave the doped up freaks, Kuronue turned away and prepared to float on. That was before a giant electrical cloud was ripped open above him. A strong wind started to surge through it immediately.

"Holy shit!" yelled the bat as he was nearly blown over. If he still had legs in his current bodiless form, Kuronue was pretty sure that they would have given out, and he'd be knocked on his ass by the sheer force of the new presence.

From the storm cloud a large and powerful hand appeared.

"Damn! That thing's so freaking huge, it's gotta have its own area code! Hell, I bet its owner takes up two time zones!"

Unimpressed by the koumori's colorful commentary, the cluster of souls continued chanting their master's name like a mantra.

"Senhor grande Vasuki! Todos granizam o mestre Vasuki!" ("Great lord, Vasuki! All hail master Vasuki!")

"Senhor grande da saraiva Vasuki! Retorne a seus povos uma vez mais!" ("Hail great lord Vasuki! Return to your people once more!")

"Nosso mestre grande Vasuki! Eu sinto como o tacos!" ("Our master, great Vasuki! I feel like tacos!")

All that Kuronue got from that was a headache and the strangest craving for tacos.

The gigantic hand released a soul to be dropped into the abyss. By the way the corrupted soul seemed to resist with storm clouds and strong you-ki, Kuronue guessed that it was not happy, whatever it was.

With a final roar and crash of thunder, the new soul was hurled into oblivion right before the koumori spirit's eyes. Its followers howled along with it and raced off after their master.

But Kuronue didn't see this. All he saw was opportunity.

Just as the giant hand pulled itself out of the rift it created in Limbo, Kuronue took off towards the vanishing storm cloud.

It was almost instinct. For years, Kuronue had been wandering the darkest depths of Limbo looking for an escape, and now one had conveniently appeared as a special, limited time offer. Having potential freedom dangling in front of him was like jingling a set of car keys over a sixteen year old's head.

The youkai could have sworn he felt the refreshing feel of a Makaain breeze lift him up closer to the opening before something clamped down hard on where his shoulder would have been; had he a physical form. Kuronue stifled a cry of pain.

'_I'm just a soul! I shouldn't be able to feel anything!_' he thought furiously. '_What the hell is this thing? Some kind of security measure?_'

Unable to find an answer to his questions, the thief focused all his energies on escaping the prison with the added weight of the force threatening to tear him apart. Kuronue was barely able to pass through the disappearing thunder cloud before it closed itself off to the rest of the denizens of Limbo.

Blinded by the excruciating light on the other side of the tunnel, Kuronue was momentarily paralyzed. This would be the first source of true light that the koumori had seen in decades. Kuronue flew blindly in the direction he thought would take him farthest from the depths of his former prison. In other words, he looked like a radioactive hummingbird that took one too many hits of LSD.

Around him, papers flew off desks and ogres sped around searching for nets, cages, or whatever they could find to put the escaped soul in. One grabbed an all-purpose laser gun. Another grabbed a Hello Kitty mechanical pencil. A loud roar sounded over the mummers and yelps coming from the rest of the staff.

The youkai had assumed the painful presence on his arm would leave him once he escaped Limbo. He was wrong.

Kuronue had to bite down another scream as a new wave of pain overtook him. Now he couldn't tell if he was being ripped apart or liquefying. It felt like force opposing him was actually melting over him like superheated metal. And without a body to help him focus his own you-ki, Kuronue felt more and more defenseless.

"God…damn it…" he cursed, unsure how much longer he could last. _'I did NOT finally escape that hellhole just to die again!'_

The koumori knew exactly what would happen to him if his soul was damaged beyond the point of repair. Breaking down into tiny fragments of spiritual energy and gradually fading into nothingness was not on the top of Kuronue's priority list.

"K…Ku…rama…"

An image of his silver-haired friend flashed through his mind. He couldn't die again now, he had gotten so far…It was just a little further to Makai. It was just a little further to his best friend.

The monstrous energy attacking the koumori did not let up. Kuronue felt as though his entire body was on an electrical fire of you-ki.

Still, he refused to give up. Kuronue knew he could get through this, find a way back to Makai, and then finding Youko would be a cakewalk. Being the experienced demon that he was, Kuronue continued to handle the situation with the grace and maturity of someone his age.

"Cocksucker!" he spat. "Let the hell go!"

Soaring around the offices of Reikai, Kuronue was in too much pain to really figure out where he was going. All he could too was dodge the dizzying array of arms, horns, and nets as they reached out to grab him. Despite still being blinded by what felt like the intense rays of the sun, Kuronue managed to locate an open window. The numerous voices and commotion started by the fugitive soul started to fade as he flew out the opening to the outside world.

Running on pure adrenaline, the thief flew away from the castle as fast as possible. Still disoriented from all the damage he was taking, he was no longer able to distinguish up from down or where the ground ended and the sky started. Diving lower, the kourmori could sense a rush of fresh souls and hear the cry of very surprised ferry girls.

Wisps of bright orange vapors appeared all at once to cloud his vision further as he pressed on towards what he could only hope was the right way to Makai.

"The...River Styx?"

Kuronue continued to fly around the river of souls madly in search of his homeland while the pressure that had been eating away at his soul seemed to ebb away. Eventually it had become only a small throbbing in the back of his subconscious.

"The hell…?" Kuronue questioned out loud to no one in particular.

Finally he felt it. A familiar dark pull that invaded all of his senses and bid him to come closer and closer. It filled the thief with ecstasy.

'_Makai_…'

He had found it. The small portal that would lead him back to the world of demons and bring him one step closer to finding his friend again. Without a second thought, Kuronue plowed through the final Kekkai Barrier. A final burst of light later and he was back at home in the forests of Makai.

Still a little disoriented, Kuronue looked around for any clue as to where the bloody hell he was.

"I don't recognize any of this…" he muttered. "This can't be happening, I never get lost!"

If souls could sweatdrop, the koumori spirit would have had quite a few beads of sweat on his head.

"Well, okay, there was that one time in the Dark Forest, and that other time inside Taishoku's mansion, but the hour we spent wandering Demon's Gate was partially Youko's fault!"

A moment of silence followed his outburst.

"I'm gonna need a new body too," growled the spirit. "…….shit."

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"Koenma-sama! Koenma-sama!" came the usual cry of alarm from George.

"Ogre," greeted the young demigod halfheartedly. "What is it now? Did you spill ink all over your loincloth again?"

"No, sir!" exclaimed the large, blue ogre, huffing and puffing from his long run to his superior's office. "This just came in from Judgement center!"

He threw an official-looking folder on Koenma's desk and rushed to finish his own report.

"A soul just escaped Limbo! It flew out following the imprisonment of another diabolical youkai and it almost clipped King Enma in the nose!" George gestured wildly. "He had the whole ward in a panic too! We suspect it escaped back to Makai since no reports in the Ningenkai have yet been made."

"A soul from Limbo?" barked Koenma. "What have we done about it so far? Have we identified it at least?"

"Yessir! His profile's in the report there!"

The toddler quickly opened the folder and skimmed through its contents.

"This can't be right…" Koenma mumbled. "Sure he was an accomplished thief and killed his share of youkai, but he's never even taken a human life. He couldn't have been sent to Limbo for crimes like that!"

George felt the child's gaze fall upon him.

"Ogre, are you sure you brought me the right folder?" growled Koenma.

"Y-Yessir! I got it straight from the Security wardens themselves! They're still keeping a close eye on the castle grounds for him."

Koemna simply shook his head and continued reading. He felt his heart stop cold as soon as he got to the list of relatives and allies.

"I know that the Tentai are busy training for the Dark Tournament, but should I ask Botan to inform them about this anyway?" the blue ogre asked, trying to be helpful. "Maybe they could keep an eye out for this guy in the Ningenkai?"

"No," the miniature price responded in a serious tone. "I don't want any of them to find out about this. You're right about the chances of the fugitive escaping to Makai."

He closed the folder.

"As far as Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei are concerned, this person should not even exist, understand?"

"Y-Yes, Koenma-sama!"

"The Tentai have to prepare for the fight of their lives, we don't need any more stress weighing them down." Koenma continued. "Besides, this guy can't do much without a body, right?"

"Yessir!" saluted George before exiting the room.

As soon as he shut the door, Koenma's serious face gave way to a chibi one.

"More importantly, I don't want any angry fox incarnations bearing their fangs at me to get information about their past life's partner in crime!"

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A shrill cry tore through the treetops of the unfamiliar Makaiin forest.

"Home, sweet, home…" muttered the floating kourmori spirit as he attempted to navigate his way to the source of the scream without running into any trees.

Despite being the battle-hardened, tough guy, orphaned _youkai_ that he used to be, Kuronue's deepest sympathies went out to the blood-covered child before him.

A little boy that appeared no more than four years old was slumped over the body of a teenage boy's corpse, crying uncontrollably. There was blood everywhere, but it looked old. If he still had his sense of smell, Kuronue would have been able to predict that this had happened a little over two hours ago. The ones responsible were long gone, but the two victims remained in the near-twilight.

"WHY? WHY? WHY?" screamed the young demon, finally pulling his head back from the blood and tearstained wound on the other _youkai_. "Nebo! NEBO!"

Now that Kuronue had a clear view of the child, he noticed that he had shaggy black hair, deep violet eyes, protruding fangs, and a set of leathery wings.

"Guess I'm not the only koumori in these woods after all…"

The child snapped his head up at the floating orb in surprise.

"W-Who are you?" the boy asked, his voice choked and raspy from grieving.

"You can hear me?" exclaimed Kuronue. "And you can see me too?"

The boy nodded through his tears.

Kuronue couldn't believe it. Most youkai had to at least be in the upper D class to see spirits, and C class to even hope to communicate with them. The thief shook his head (or at least tried to). This fragile looking kid barely looked like he made the D class at all. His clothes were ragged and he obviously hadn't eaten a decent meal in quite a while.

'_What's going on here?_' thought the thief. '_I couldn't see spirits until I was twelve, and I was a fast learner!_'

"None of this makes sense…"

"Mister?" the young koumori ventured, wiping his tears on his sleeve.

It was enough to snap Kuronue out of La-La Land.

"Er, yeah?"

"You're like me, right?" the child stretched out a wing. "Would….would you be my big brother, please?"

Too bad souls couldn't facefault. Kuronue didn't know what to be surprised by more, the fact that the kid could identify different species by their spirits (Kuronue himself could only tell if they were good or bad, ningen or youkai), the fact that he was asking him to become his brother, or the fact that he was finally back in Makai attempting to make sense of the impossible again.

'_This is worse than Youko's stupid word games…_'

"Please, Mister?"

The boy sounded desperate.

"Look kid, I'd love to, but as you can see…" Kuronue floated around to demonstrate. "I'm kinda dead already."

"Y-You can take Nebo's body…he's already gone forever."

"Kid, nobody's ever gone forever," the thief said a little harsher than he intended. He noticed that the little boy jumped a little. "Trust me, I've crawled out of the darkest pits of Reikai to get back here to see my friend."

The younger koumori looked down at the body beside him.

"But you and your brother here won't have to do that," Kuronue continued, floating next to the boy. "After you're done living a nice long life here, you can see him again…on the other side."

"R-Really?"

"Really."

Kuronue did his best to be reassuring, but he wasn't as confident as he sounded. This child might be able to communicate with spirits, but that wouldn't really help him survive in this forest. This forest was one big deathtrap. If the youkai that murdered his brother didn't run into him, something else just as vicious probably would. Odds are the little koumori would be eaten alive within the week.

If Kuronue had fists to clench, he would have drawn blood.

"B-But, until then you'll be my big brother, right?" asked the boy with puppy eyes. "And you'll protect me, won't you?"

He had hit the nail on the head.

"Uh, I…" the thief stammered.

"P-Please, Mister? I promise to stay out of your way…"

The puppy dog eyes intensified to a level Kuronue thought only he could achieve when he had begged Youko for extra treats. Sugar-coated pleading for sugar-coated snacks. The only difference was that the child's eyes were filled with deep hope for a savior of sorts, not anpan, dumplings, or candy.

"Listen kid, I would if I could, but there's no way I can possess a…a person that's already passed on," he replied, choosing his words carefully. No need to upset the child more than he already was.

"I can help you then!" exclaimed the child as he grabbed the spirit in front of him and shoved it into the body that laid next to him.

"Wait just a---!"

Kuronue never got the rest of his sentence out before he was blinded by a light for the third time that day.

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"Nii-san? Nii-san?"

Kuronue could hear a voice off in the distance. It seemed so far away, yet so close.

"Nii-san! Please wake up, Nii-san!"

But the thief didn't feel like waking up. A tingling sensation ran through his veins almost comfortingly. He couldn't even remember the last time he had actually slept. His eyelids felt so heavy and the smell of blood was so strong…

'_Wait…I can smell blood?_'

His eyes snapped open, and Kuronue sat up quickly in alarm. However, he regretted it as soon as he did so once a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him.

"Easy, Nii-san…"

Kuronue looked at the boy incredulously. He wasn't floating above him anymore and he was actually touching him. Touching _and_ smelling him, Kuronue amended. The little boy definitely hadn't bathed in awhile either.

"I'm…I'm alive?" the older koumori asked, touching his cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "I'm really…"

"Nii-san!" squealed the boy as he glomped the reborn bat.

"Oouf!" Kuronue sputtered as he tried to simultaneously not get the wind knocked out of him or vomit all over the place.

"I'm so glad you're here with me, Nii-san!" the boy looked up at him with tears shining in his eyes.

"S-Sure," Kuronue said. "But how'd you do that?"

The child just smiled.

"Well, whatever," sighed the thief. "I'm Kuronue."

"Kuro-nii!" exclaimed the younger boy as he hugged him tighter.

Kuronue fought the increasingly strong urge to puke up whatever was in his stomach, or Nebo's, he wasn't really sure at that point. While the bat was glad he got the kid's mood seemed to be improving, he wasn't too keen on his surprisingly strong grip. Eventually he got the little bat to loosen his grip. Then the tears started.

"Don't cry, kid, I told you I'd protect you." Said Kuronue in his best attempt to sound comforting. _'Damn, I really suck at this brotherly crap…'_

The little one continued crying, but Kuronue could now see that he was smiling too.

"So what's your name?"

The only response was more sobs into Kuronue's equally ragged clothing.

"Look, if you don't give me a name, I'm gonna just call you 'Mikata'…," he joked.

Strangely enough, the boy didn't object to being called "Ally" and only smiled wider, wiped his tears, and hugged Kuronue again.

"Hey, I was just kidding," the older bat laughed as he rubbed the child's back for comfort. "I won't really call ya 'Mikata.'"

"N-No…I-It's okay," the newly named Mikata hiccupped. "I…I like that name."

"Whatever kid—er, Mikata," the thief shrugged. "Let's get you to a stream and clean up."

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Never in his entire life did Kuronue have this much trouble walking. After being stuck in his spiritual form for over two decades, walking was about as easy as fighting off Toguro with a rubber ducky and a muffin. (I'd say Sensui, but you might actually be able to bribe one of his personalities depending on the muffin flavor.)

Inside Kuronue's head the jury was still out on whether it was a good thing or not that Mikata was there to help support him. The older koumori had never been very fond of showing much weakness.

Luckily they found a nearby creek, clean enough for them to wash the blood off their faces and clothes. Mikata jumped right in while Kuronue nearly buckled under his own weight and the sudden loss of his balancer.

It was also light enough for Kuronue to see his reflection in the water. He was half-expecting Nebo's hollow face to be staring back at him, but it was his own self that he saw. Aside from the rags he had on now, the koumori looked no different as he did on the final raid he made with Youko Kurama that cost him his life.

'_And how is my little thieving buddy doing?_' Kuronue mused. '_He better still recognize me…_'

During his trip down memory lane and his plans of what to do to Youko if he didn't remember him (mostly consisting of beatings to his head and threats to pull his tail and/or ears), Mikata crawled up beside him and curled against him contently.

"Geez, you're freezing!" Kuronue shivered. "Let me get a fire started and we'll try to get some sleep."

Mikata nodded lazily as his new "nii-san" stood up to start a campfire. He now noticed how tired he was from the day's events and fell asleep next to Kuronue in no time. Carefully brushing a strand of the child's wild hair from his face, Kuronue leaned back against a tree to rest his own eyes, chuckling to himself.

"Puppy dog eyes…he got me with _puppy dog eyes_," smiled the bat before sighing sleepily.

"…How the hell did Youko put up with me?"

----------------------------------------- END: Chap. 1

**::A/N::**

Neko: Meh… that didn't go as well as I wanted, but I was in a writing mood.

Kuro: _(looks at rough draft)_ How the hell can you even read this? It's just bullet notes and cookie crumbs!

Neko: That's not true, there's some Pixie Stix on there too…

Kuro: And here I thought it was just colorful crack.

**Translation Corner------------------------**

I tend to include foreign words in my fics, so you can see definitions here. Feel free to correct anything wrong, or add anything you think I've missed.

**Random Chanting** (Port.) Yeah…Babblefish doesn't have any English to Hindu translation, so instead you get……Portuguese. I was in a strange mood. I'll edit this later once I find the Hindu translation.

**Koumori **(Jap.) "Bat"

**Youkai** (Jap.) "Demon"

**Vasuki** (Hin.) In Hindu mythology, Vasuki is a gigantic snake and one of the three rulers of the Nagas (a snake-like race). Usually depicted in human form wearing the crest of a serpent.

**Kekkai** (Jap.) "Barrier" or "Shield"

**Makai** (Jap.) "Demon World"

**Reikai** (Jap.) "Spirit World"

**Ningenkai** (Jap.) "Human World"

**Tentai** (Jap.) "Detective"

**Nebo** (Heb., Sum.) A god of trading. He was also a teacher, writer, and messenger. Not the same character as the Nebo that appears in this fic. I just used the name because of the similar traits. You'll learn more about fic-Nebo later.

**Ningen** (Jap.) "Human"

**Nii-san** (Jap.) "Big Brother"

**Mikata** (Jap.) "Ally," "Supporter," you get the idea.


	2. Chapter 2

**shallow sleep**

by: oONekomataOo

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own YYH and I fall asleep sobbing every night because I don't own Kurama, Kuronue, or even Teh Smexy Hat _(giggle, snort). _

**WARNING: **Probably some OOCness, language, Pocky conspiracies, and flirty bats.

Neko: Meant to get this up sooner, but work kept getting in the way. Stupid work.

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Cloaks. The D-Class apparition fashion accessory of choice. Cloaks could conceal just about anything from battle scars to underdeveloped muscles. They were a cheap alternative to plastic surgery as well. Plus they made youkai with low self-esteem feel all manly and stuff.

While some of the higher class badasses of the Demon Plane chose to wear cloaks to dramatically rip off whenever they were about to beat their enemies into a bloody pulp, the majority of cloak-wearers didn't rate much better than D to C. In fact, most youkai could tell each other's class by looking at the condition of their cloak as easily as scanning their power level. The rattier the cloak, the weaker the wearer. It was this skill that Kuronue had been depending on for the last few days he spent in the woods where he had been restored to life.

"_Now_, Mikata!"

The small koumori quickly cut a rope hidden in the treetops, allowing a large net to fall over a group of four bull-like youkai.

"What the hell is this?!" hollered one of the bulkier beasts.

"Who dares to attack soldiers of Lord Okomesu?!" yelled another, steam coming out of his ears.

"You guys aren't soldiers, you just couldn't cut it as hamburger," laughed a voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" the cattle demanded.

"I've seen F-Classes with cooler uniforms," Kuronue sneered, walking out from his hiding spot in the shadows.

"You're a fine one to talk! You look like a beggar in that outfit!"

"What'd you say, you fat cow?!" Kuronue shouted back, his cool demeanor quickly losing to his short temper. It wasn't _his_ fault he hadn't been able to change out of Nebo's tattered clothes.

"Yeah, at least we _have_ cloaks! You only got rags!" Bovine Brother #3 laughed.

"Big talk from a bunch of dumbasses that walked right into a net trap of all things," sneered the bat.

'_At least I only fell for traps that actually required a brain to create._'

"We work under the Great Lord Okomesu, you puny little bug!" roared one of the bulls. "Let us out of this stupid net now, and we might let you live!"

"Oh really?" Kuronue said smugly. "Well, I work _alongside_ the legendary Youko Kurama! If you think a threat like that's gonna intimidate me, you've been out on the pasture too long!"

All of the bull fighters looked at each other in confusion.

"_Who?_" they all chorused.

"Whaddaya mean '_Who_?' Youko Kurama! The King of Thieves!" snarled Kuronue, losing his patience with the cloaked cows. "I don't know what kind of greens you guys were eating, but they definitely messed you up."

"You're just making people up!"

"If somebody was good enough to be called The King of Thieves, they'd be famous and we'd have heard of 'em!"

"Even if that Youko guy's real, he probably got gutted before he made it big!"

It was right around there that Kuronue snapped.

"That's it," growled the angry bat. "I'm sending you fuckers to the _slaughterhouse_."

Moving faster than his prisoners anticipated, Kuronue launched himself at them, weapon drawn. The bat landed three blows separately on each soldier. Every strike was pressure point, immobilizing the bovine youkai easily.

"H-How'd you…?!" sputtered the bulkiest bull of the group.

Kuronue smirked and dropped the two wooden dagger-like tools he had been holding. Because the 'blades' were dulled from use, none of the blows had been fatal. Unfortunately, they had also cracked from the cows' thick skin and were now beyond repair.

"No way…"

"Yes way," the bat smirked. "And now I'm gonna personally send you to hell…"

Somewhere along the line the seemingly defenseless beggar had turned into a dangerous killer. His aura emulated anger while his eyes had become as cold as ice. The band of bovine trembled under his glare. They liked the hobo a lot better.

Twenty nine screams, sixteen broken bones, twelve pleas for mercy, and a couple of unidentifiable snap, crackle and pops later, Kuronue felt satisfied with his revenge.

"Okay, Mikata, you can come down now," the taller bat called upwards.

Mikata hesitantly poked his head out from one of the tree branches. He looked at the pile of once threatening cowmen and then his victorious role model standing over them.

"Kuro-nii!" he squealed and jumped down beside him to give Kuronue another bone-crunching hug. "You won! You won!"

"Of course I did!" laughed Kuronue. "Guys like these never stood a chance! Of course with your help it went even easier than if I was alone."

Mikata beamed.

"Now let's rob these bastards blind!" grinned the thief. "I'm satisfied with my revenge, but I won't be _happy_ until we grab every coin these flunkies are carrying."

"So you won't have to kill them?" asked the tiny bat.

"Nah, I figured I'd let them take a Walk of Shame back to their loser boss instead." The other answered. He had seen the boy's reaction to his brother's death, so he tried to avoid killing others in front of him.

"Okay!" smiled Mikata and continued over to the nearest unconscious bull to pilfer every gold piece on his person.

As soon as his back was turned to Kuronue, the older bat let out the deep breath he had been holding in. Even though the group of bull yokai didn't rank much above your average youkai jerkoff, the thief felt a little tired after what normally wouldn't have been light exercise for him. He joined his companion in raiding the bulls' pockets after he caught his breath once more.

'_I guess I overdid it again…' _he frowned. _'It's been too soon since I was revived for this sort of thing…'_

Despite being one of the deadliest youkai in his prime, it took Kuronue two full days to be able to easily walk without any help from Mikata. Even with his youki steadily returning to him, Kuronue used it only as a last resort.

'_And those times seem to be happening more and more often_…' the bat noted darkly_. 'If Mikata hadn't been around to help make that net and then drop it on those idiots, I would have probably had to summon my sythes. Feh! These assholes aren't even worth it.'_

The bats had managed to create a small campsite near the creek nearby the clearing where they meant to rest and build up their strength, but each day ended up becoming a battle and didn't do much to help restore the older bat's true energy level. In his present state, Kuronue fell somewhere in between middle to high D-Class.

'_I haven't felt this weak since I was five…_' Kuronue's internal dialog glowered. '_If I knew where the hell we were, we could at least go to a town somewhere! Less assassins would be nice.' _

"Kuro-nii?"

"Huh? What?" the thief snapped out of his thoughts.

"These people didn't know your friend either?"

"Yeah, guess not. We must be farther away from Youko's territory that I thought," replied Kuronue with his best comforting smile. "No big deal. We'll be safe once we get there."

"Okay," the boy smiled, relieved.

Secretly, that had been exactly what worried the older bat the most. None of the hostile forest wanderers that Kuronue had mashed into the ground had ever even heard of Kurama. He wasn't exactly lying when he said that people farther away from Youko Kurama's territory would know less about the kitsune, but the fox's fame was so widespread at the time of Kuronue's death, that he was practically a household name as far away as Reikai. Kuronue refused to believe that Youko had been killed or just gave up on thievery, so he was at a complete loss as to what could have happened to him.

'_I'll just have to find him._'

"Ready to go, Mikata?"

"Mikata is ready, Kuro-nii!"

Eager to please, the little bat scampered over to his foster brother and showed all the gold he had found in his cupped hands.

"Mikata found lots of money today!"

"Good boy," Kuronue grinned and ruffled the child's hair.

Kuronue had never considered himself a kid-person before, but as much as he hated to admit it, the little koumori was growing on him.

'_Stupid Puppy Eyes…_'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waking up the day after his revival seemed even more difficult to Kuronue than even the first time he opened his eyes in his new body. He felt more weak and exhausted in that moment than he could ever recall feeling in his entire life.

Slowly, Kuronue tried to move his legs expecting them to feel like lead weights. Surprisingly, it was just the opposite.

'_Who replaced my bones with Jello?' _

The thief grumbled a bit more before attempting to open his eyes. It was nearly noon in Makai time, so Kuronue settled on squinting instead.

"How many times must I be blinded this week?"

Next to him, Mikata stirred and blinked his large violet eyes a few times to wake up. Kuronue couldn't express his jealousy enough at the child's ability to adjust to the glaring sun, stand up, and stretch with little difficulty.

"Kuro-nii? How do you feel?"

"Like….shit…."

The older bat saw no reason to hide the truth. He hoped Mikata didn't expect him to be able to protect either of them in his current state.

'_With my luck I'll probably get eaten by a stupid dandelion…_' he scowled internally, glaring at the nearby weed. '_Not even Youko would feed me to a bloody dandelion, no matter how pissed he got at me……probably._'

Kuronue blinked at the thought.

'_That's right…I gotta find him again. I gotta find him and tell him I'm alive again.' _

Ignoring the pain that shot up his spine when he pushed himself up into a sitting position, Kuronue's face became determined again.

'_He probably still blames himself, the stupid fox. I gotta tell him that it wasn't his fault and that everything's fine_.'

Even if his new body was protesting his movement, the older bat's mind was refocusing towards his goal.

'_That fluffy-tailed bastard still owes me a beer_.'

And with that, Kuronue burst into laughter, forgetting his situation for the moment. Worried that his companion had misplaced his marbles, Mikata crawled closer to the older koumori who was currently laughing like a lunatic and clutching his side in pain.

"Kuro-nii?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," chuckled Kuronue. "I just need a minute to gather my strength…"

"Mikata will bring Kuro-nii some water!" the boy exclaimed. "Then Kuro-nii will feel better!"

"I, uh, don't think it'll be quite that simp-"

But Mikata was already charging towards the stream a few yards away.

"Whatever," Kuronue sighed. "Don't fall in, kid."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gathering the gold from Mikata's hands, Kuronue combined it with the pouch of money he found. After securing it to his belt, the dark-haired man picked up a few tools from the satchel one of the bulls had been carrying. Mikata watched him in confusion.

"What is Kuro-nii doing?"

"I'm taking some stuff we'll need for our next trip."

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere but here," Kuronue replied. "Let's see, broken compass, half-eaten muffin, cheap-ass pocket knife...don't these guys have anything useful?!"

Mikata continued to watch his new "brother" raid the knapsack.

"Score! A map! Now I can figure out where the hell we are!"

After snatching a few rations and reluctantly bringing the flimsy pocket knife just in case, the boys were ready.

"Alright, kiddo, we're gonna head back to camp to grab the last of our supplies and then head out to the nearest town on the map."

"Okay, Kuro-nii!" the boy smiled for a moment before looking worried once more. "What about your wooden knives? The bad guys made them break…"

"Then we'll just have to go buy some new gear when we get into town," replied his new nii-san, kicking the nearest unconscious youkai. "Stupid cow! Those took me _hours_ to carve!"

Twenty minutes later found the two bats on their way to the closest demon settlement.

"Where is the place we're going to, Kuro-nii?"

"A couple more miles this way," Kuronue answered. "It doesn't have a name on the map, so it's probably more of a trading post than a town."

Even if that group of bulls had been a pain in the ass to deal with, Kuronue had to admit that their map was worth it. From what he could tell, they were currently somewhere in Northwestern Makai, which explained why nothing looked familiar to the older bat. Kuronue had grown up with Youko in Eastern Makai and by the time he died, their territory had expanded into Central and Southeastern Makai. Neither thief had spent a great deal of time in the Western parts of Demon World aside from a few raids, and Kuronue couldn't remember ever setting foot in the Northern areas.

'_Oh, well. We'll just rest up here and then head back to our territory once I figure out where Youko is_…'

Along the way, Kuronue made them walk near the main path, but still stuck close to the shadows. If possible, he had hoped to avoid any more fights and conserve his energy. The trip would be much more difficult if either of the bats was injured. Especially since they lacked any real medical supplies.

"We should be able to make it there by nightfall if we don't stop for too long."

"Okay, Kuro-nii!"

"But…uh, if you need to stop to rest just say something," Kuronue said reluctantly. He was still getting used to this 'older brother' stuff after all. "A break now and then wouldn't kill me either."

"Mikata will do his best!" the child said happily.

Kuronue nodded and continued down the shadowy route he had pointed out to the younger bat. Sure, he was eager to get to the trading town, get a set of decent clothes, eat a warm meal, and relax as much as he could in a demon town, but he knew enough not to push Mikata—or even himself for the matter—too hard, or end up crashing on the forest floor for the night.

Along the way, Mikata would stop to pick up colorful plants or strangely shaped rocks, but would never stray too far from Kuronue. Dashing ahead of him, the young koumori chased a tiny frog-like creature into the brush. He peeked over his shoulder at Kuronue and smiled. When he was near his adopted brother, Mikata felt much more secure.

Finally, Kuronue smelled smoke and sensed the presence of a large group of youkai. Fighting the urge to sprint down to the nearest store and steal everything they had, he tried listening to the voices to determine whether this was a safe place to stop or not. It just wouldn't do to get this far, rush into a village full of other bandits, and get lynched. Thanking his enhanced hearing, Kuronue focused on the sounds coming from the trading town. All he got was a lot of cursing, haggling, and cheering. Typical youkai.

"Dammit…I can't tell if these guys are normal or nightmares…" growled the older bat in annoyance. "Too hard to tell with all of them spread out and…"

"Kuro-nii doesn't know if they're good guys or bad guys?" worried Mikata asked.

"Yeah, I don't know if they're gonna welcome us or attack us—wait a minute…"

It dawned on him that when he first met the small boy beside him, he could immediately tell that Kuronue wouldn't hurt him by his aura. He also knew that he was a bat spirit right off the…bat.

"Mikata, why don't you have a look?"

"Huh?"

"Just like you did with me, remember? Focus your mind on some of the youkai in that town to see if they're good guys or not."

"But there's so many, Kuro-nii," stated the boy uncertainly. "I don't think I can--"

"What? C'mon, kid!" laughed the dark-haired man. "Just reach your mind out a little farther than you do with normal youkai, 'kay? It should be real easy for you; you're good at this stuff!"

"O-Okay, Mikata will try…"

The boy shut his eyes and focused all his energy into scanning the town's inhabitants for any "bad guys." It was a little bit of a strain to reach out with his mind out on something as distant and wide as the whole trading town, but Mikata wanted to do his best for his new big brother. That meant ignoring the slight dizziness and nausea that the effort was inducing.

'_If Mikata does a good job, Kuro-nii will be happy_…'

This strengthened the boy's resolve, and the tiny koumori nearly doubled his effort. After another minute or so, Mikata was satisfied with what he found and plopped down onto the grass. He rubbed his forehead a little, but looked up at Kuronue with a grin.

"Easy there, Squirt," warned the taller bat with a little concern in his voice. "What'd you find out?"

"Um, what is a '_hooker_,' Kuro-nii?"

"It's a…I'll tell you when you get a little older," sweatdropped the thief. "Was there a lot of basta- uh, _bad guys_ there?"

"No…Mikata saw lots of different youkai trading and selling things. Some bad people were fighting, but they were all in one building over there."

Kuronue followed the direction of Mikata's pointed finger to a run-down building on the edge of the little town. Sure enough, he could feel faint traces of fighting youki when he tried to focus on that area himself.

"Probably a botched arms trade or something," mused the koumori. "Don't worry about them, anything else?"

"Ov-Over there…"

This time the boy pointed to a larger building resembling a bar. Squinting, Kuronue could see that was indeed. Not many other places had people passed out over the railings and drunks wandering aimlessly around the side walls in search of the door, even in Makai.

"That's normal too," laughed Kuronue. "I'd be concerned if they _weren't_ acting like that in a Makaain bar!"

Mikata still didn't look convinced.

"Relax, we'll stay away from those places if I can help it," the older bat promised, helping the boy to his feet. _'That scan must have worn him out more than I thought.'_

Together, the two koumori started to head down into town. Each was a little worse for the wear, but relieved to be headed somewhere they could recover some energy nonetheless. As soon as they entered the small trading town, Kuronue guided Mikata over to a clothes stand where a young girl took one look at them and nearly dropped her jaw.

"You guys look terrible!" she winced. "Where'd you come from, anyway?!"

"The Underworld," Kuronue responded only half-joking, picking up the sleeve of one of the folded shirts in disgust. "Got anything that doesn't come in swamp green or neon yellow?"

The pink-haired salesgirl laughed at his comment and gestured them to the other side of the wooden stand.

"Sure, sure, right over here!"

Kuronue grabbed a sleeveless black tonic and pair of baggy pants. Cheap, but effective and much better than the rags he was currently sporting.

"I'll take this, do you have anything in kids sizes?" the thief gestured to Mikata, who was currently half hiding, half sleeping behind him.

"Ooh! He's so cute!" the girl squealed, much to the displeasure of both bats' sensitive hearing. "Is he yours?"

"Nah…we're brothers. Mom and Pop's kicked it in a raid on our town a few months ago," Kuronue answered, the lie flowing smoothly off his tongue.

"Tch. Was it Okomesu's little gang again? They've been hitting all the nearby towns recently," the former bubblehead said angrily as she grabbed a few shirts and things from the shelves below. "Those damned cows are so full of themselves just 'cause they got a few B-Classes in their ranks!"

Mikata gripped Kuronue's shirt tighter and huddled away from the noisy girl. Her expression softened a bit.

"Aww, I'm sorry kiddo!" she apologized. "Didn't mean to scare ya like that! I get so carried away sometimes!"

"S'alright…" Kuronue answered for his little companion. "Oi, Mikata, how about this blue one?"

He held up a navy blue tonic similar to his own, with a white shirt and pair of pants to go under it. Slowly, the boy peeked over his new nii-san's waist and nodded, eager to escape the scary pink salesgirl.

"Hey, don't be so shy around the ladies!" grinned the taller bat. "How do you expect to get a girlfriend if you can't even talk to 'em?"

"I-I'm sorry…" Mikata mumbled and blushed.

"Oh my gawd, he's so adorable!" the girl gushed. "You don't see too many kids in these parts anymore. What's your name sweetie?"

"Mikata."

She blinked.

"That's a…._different_ name, but you're still so cute!" giggled the pink-haired youkai. "I want a kid just like you! Let me get you a discount on those outfits for being so darn cyuuuute!"

She happily hopped off to her money pouch and Kuronue grinned. Maybe traveling with a four-year-old wouldn't be so bad after all. Even if they encountered the occasional female that stubbornly refused to fall for his own charm, Kuronue could let Mikata do his thing and use their motherly instincts against them. One look at the kid, and Kuronue doubted too many women could tell him 'no.' Grinning again, the older koumori ruffled Mikata's hair playfully while the girl returned.

"Okay, it'll come to 35 gold, please," she beamed. "D'ya need bags or anything?"

"Nah, we've been dying to change outta these clothes for _days_!" he answered with a wave. "Thanks again, babe."

"Come again soooooon!" the salesgirl called after them.

After quickly ducking in a back alley to change into their new outfits, the duo returned to prowling the streets. Confidence restored, the taller of the two felt a little stronger despite lacking a good two-thirds of his former power level. The younger bat settled on playing with the rolled up hem of his sleeve. Even though their outfits didn't fit them perfectly, anything was better than the peasant garb they had been wearing for the past couple of days, as far as Kuronue was concerned.

'_I almost feel intimidating now_,' Kuronue smirked internally. _'Amazing what a new set of clothes can do for you.' _

"Ok, we got ourselves some new clothes, so whaddaya say we make some more money to stay at an inn tonight? I don't know about you, but I'm getting kinda sick of camping out every day."

"Yeah!" agreed Mikata "But…how?"

Kuronue retrieved the pocketknife he had pilfered off the obnoxious bulls earlier from his belt.

"Watch your big brother work."

After telling Mikata to stay quiet (not that he had totally expected him to instantly become a chatterbox), they walked off to another stand selling miscellaneous items a few feet away.

"Good evening, sir!" Kuronue greeted the aging shopkeep that looked like a cross between an ogre and a turtle. "You seem like a reasonably sharp man! Can you tell me what this is?"

The man running the stand stared at the cheap-looking piece of camping equipment resting in the koumori's hand.

"A…pocketknife?"

"Ah, to the untrained eye, it would appear to be a mere pocketknife, but when wielded under a full moon…oh, never mind!" Kuronue sounded disappointed. "I couldn't help but notice your high-quality wares and assumed you were familiar with the legend of the Five Fangs of Lycaon…"

"O-Of course I've heard of that tale!" boasted the proud shopkeep. "But…you can refresh my memory a little, young man. I'm worn out from all my sales today!"

"Sure thing," the thief grinned. "Lycaon was king of the Werewolves hundreds of years ago in the Northern region of Makai. Cursed by a vengeful sorcerer, Lycaon was doomed to wander the ice lands in search of a human child to kill every full moon. He did so, and because his bloodlust was so strong, he sprouted a fifth fang in the center of his jaw."

"Yes, yes, now I recall the tale…" the merchant nodded untruthfully. "Please continue."

"When he died, his werewolf clan was losing more and more members each day to a nearby hunting village," Kuronue rambled on, caught up in his own story. "To increase their numbers, they removed the five fangs from Lycaon's great jaws and carved them into inconspicuous pocketknives. During every full moon, five of his bravest warriors went out in search of lost humans and youkai in the woods. Under the full moon's spell, the knives would take on their original form and become fangs. Any creature cut by the fangs would eventually become a werewolf themselves…"

"Splendid! Splendid!" chortled the dimwitted youkai. "So that's one of the original fangs then?"

"It is," smiled Kuronue. "And for a reasonable price, I'm willing to sell it to someone of your nature that fully understands its true power."

"Oh? But I'm a little suspicious, my friend…" frowned the merchant. "Why would you wish to part with such a valuable tool?"

"Because I've already gotten my use out of it," replied the bat. "I promised to look after the Young Master here while the group of youkai I've turned into werewolves finds us a place at the inn. Why just two days ago, I cut six additional hands with this Fang of Lycaon!"

Kuronue paused to make sure he still had the man's attention.

"Although the full moon has passed us, the effects of the fang were practically instant! I assume it gathers its power during the weaker phases of the moon to release them during the full moon."

"Incredible…" breathed the shopkeep.

"It is, isn't it," the thief agreed. "Why else would I risk traveling through the forests at night with Okomesu's gang wandering about? Didn't you hear how he has B-Class youkai in his ranks?"

"I'll give you 1,000 Gold for it!"

"Sir, surely you should know the value of such a rare artifact!" Kuronue scolded the man. "As the name implies, there's only five of these in existence!"

"Y-You're right! _5,000!"_

"Raise it once more."

"7,000 Gold, and not a penny more!"

"Sold!"

As the two bats pocketed their money and handed over the crappy knife stolen from the band of murdering moo-cows, Kuronue felt Mikata's eyes on him.

"Yeah?"

"Kuro-nii is amazing!" the boy said in awe. "I didn't know that knife was so famous!"

Kuronue checked over his shoulder to make sure the shopkeep wasn't watching them. He wasn't, the ugly ogre-turtle man was practically drooling over his new piece of merchandise. The thief made a mental note to leave town before the next full moon.

"That's 'cause it's not really one of the 'Five Fangs of Lycaon,' Mikata," he laughed. "I just made that up to get more money off it! He wouldn't have paid nearly as much if I told him we just stole it off a couple of thugs in the woods."

"So…Kuro-nii _lied_ to him?"

"It was more of a survival tactic than anything," Kuronue sweatdropped. "Hey, I never claimed to be the poster-boy for proper family values and good morals, did I? We need the cash more than that old fart anyway."

"…."

"Sorry…" the thief groaned, not entirely sure why he was apologizing to a four-year-old. "Guess I'm not much of a big brother, huh?"

"No!!" shouted the boy, surprising them both. "Mikata thinks Kuro-nii is a great big brother! Kuro-nii saved Mikata and takes care of me, and is funny, and…"

"Stop, kid, you're making me blush!" Kuronue laughed, scratching his head. "Let's go find an inn, shall we?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Remind me to tell you some of the crazy shit I pulled with Youko sometime!" he laughed. "If those don't make good bedtime stories, I don't know what will…"

----------------------------------------- END: Chap. 2

**::A/N::**

Neko: _(shakes head)_ Mikata is going to be so corrupted by the end of this fic…

Kuro: And what do you mean by that?! I'm not _that_ bad of an influence on him!

Neko: _(shows him the rough drafts for later chapters)_ Wanna bet?

Kuro: Oh….Well, you can always change that stuff up…..right?

Neko: Thanks for reading this insanely long chapter, people!

Kuro: Answer my question, dammit!

**Translation Corner------------------------**

I tend to include foreign words in my fics, so you can see definitions here. Feel free to correct anything wrong, or add anything you think I've missed. To shorten this list, most character names will appear in the chapter they were first introduced.

**Koumori **(Jap.) "Bat"

**Youkai** (Jap.) "Demon"

**Youki **(Jap.) "Demon Energy"

**Makai** (Jap.) "Demon World"

**Kitsune** (Jap.) "Fox"

**Reikai** (Jap.) "Spirit World"

**Okomesu** (Jap.) A made-up name combining "Okotteiru" ("mad") and "Mesu" ("cow")

**Lycaon** (Gk.) In Greek mythology, he was a bloodthirsty tyrant that angered Zeus by serving him the flesh of a human child. To get revenge, Zeus turned him into a wolf, but some of his human features remained. There's no such thing as the 'Five Fangs of Lycaon.' Everything I had Kuro' say was either BS or borrowed from werewolf legends.


	3. Chapter 3

**shallow sleep**

by: oONekomataOo

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own YYH and I cry myself to sleep every night because I don't own Kurama, Kuronue, or even Teh Smexy Hat _(giggle, snort). _

**WARNING: **Probably some OOCness, language, Pocky conspiracies, and flirty bats.

Neko: Update. Finally. Whee…

* * *

Trading towns; great places to stop by to get the latest goods or information. You could spend the entire day snooping around for whatever you needed, and then rent a room in an inn for a relatively peaceful evening. Even the smallest trading towns had places to stay…unfortunately for Kuronue, the particular town he and Mikata had stumbled upon only had taverns and no inns. The difference? While the tavern keepers served rooms to rent they also served other things—like alcohol. Which makes sleep pretty much impossible especially in a place like Makai, where the only thing higher than the number of drunks that periodically lined up to get trashed each night was their tolerance for liquor.

This did not make Kuronue happy.

By the time he'd tracked down the safest tavern of the three in town, Happy Hour was in full swing. Also not improving his mood was the fact that he still hadn't had a real meal since his revival at the hands of a four-year-old. How he'd ever figure that one out, he had no idea.

"Oi, Mikata," Kuronue spoke, prodding the child beside him.

"Hunh…?" replied the sleepy koumori.

"We're gonna have to stay at this place tonight, okay?"

"But, um, Kuro-nii…Mikata feels bad people inside…"

His foster brother of sorts sighed and crouched down to his eye-level.

"I know there's some bad people in there, kid, but we don't have any other choice," Kuronue explained. "If we don't stay here, we'll have to sleep outside again and be sitting ducks for the really bad people that might pass by. You don't want that, right?"

The child shook his head.

"Good," the he answered, ruffling Mikata's hair again. "You just stick by me and you'll be fine, okay?"

And so the two bats made there way into the wooden tavern. Pushing past the drunks was normally no problem for Kuronue, but pushing past them with Mikata clenched firmly to his hand was a little harder. He had to make sure no one stepped on or ran into the tiny koumori on their way to the front desk. Equally unfortunate was that the front desk also served as the main bar area. Naturally, our hero handled it the maturity and grace one would expect from his character.

"Get outta my way, ya bloody drunks!" Kuronue hollered, kicking a passed out octopus-looking youkai off his barstool.

"Hey there son, we got the finest ningen blood on tap! Care for a mug?"

"Nah, just a room for now, barkeep."

"Sure thing," the larger youkai said, taking a key off the rack behind him. "This kid yours?"

"Yeah, I knocked up the wrong chick a few towns over and now her man's after us," Kuronue said with all the ease of someone who's spent his entire life lying himself out of trouble. "Guess he figured it out when the kid sprouted wings."

"That so?" the barkeep grinned. "Well don't you be startin' any more trouble at my bar, I already got plenty!"

"You got it," the bat grinned, setting down the money for the key. "Oh, that reminds me. You got any food here?"

"Do I look like a chef to you? I'm already short-staffed as it is!"

"Do I look like a food critic to you? I was talking about soup and bread or something, I'm starving!"

The barkeep laughed again and promised to have something ready by the time he put his younger companion to bed. Kuronue nodded in thanks and agreed to come down for it after Mikata was tucked in.

When they opened the door to their room for the night, the violet-eyed boy dove straight for the bed. Kuronue pulled up a wooden chair and glanced around the room. The furnishings were pretty sparse, but after camping out in the woods for the last few days, neither bat was about to complain. Besides, the older of the two knew that these rooms were usually given to the drunk or hung-over, so there was no reason to make them fancy.

Once Kuronue made his companion to promise to stay put and not let anyone in the room, he headed back downstairs to pick up their dinner. This time shoving drunks out of his way was easy. Again, the same octopus-like demon was rudely kicked off his barstool so that Kuronue could get the barkeep's attention.

"That guy's gonna be mad with you tomorrow…"

"Look at him! He's not even going to remember _himself_ tomorrow," the thief laughed. "Now about that food…"

"You've sure got a one-track mind there," the large youkai shook his head, setting down a tray of soup, a few assorted slices of bread, and a pitcher of water. "Best I could do on such short notice."

"Looks great!" exclaimed the bat.

"Didja want anything else to drink? Some whisky, maybe?"

"I'm more of a sake man, myself…"

"So you're from Eastern Makai, then," noted the barkeep, pouring him a glass.

"Born and raised."

"Helluva mess over there, now."

"You said it," Kuronue replied, masking his concern for his thieving guild. It hadn't been a mess when he'd last left it. The East practically belonged to Youko, many of its barons and lords living in constant fear of a raid. And any town that didn't was too afraid to admit it.

Kuronue downed the burning drink in one gulp, paid the barkeep, and returned upstairs. Mikata was already fast asleep by the time he returned, so the elder bat sat on the chair to eat his dinner and think about what he heard.

Somehow Eastern Makai wasn't doing so good and the thief had no idea why. Asking too much about it would be risky, especially if it was a big enough change that everyone would be expected to know about. Kuronue had never felt so cut off from everything else. Back in his time, he always knew what was going on and had eyes and ears everywhere. Now…not so much.

Finishing off his share of the meal, Kuronue covered the rest for Mikata and tried to get some sleep himself. Even with all the noise from the bar below, the koumori had an easier time than he had initially predicted. Reincarnation and sleep deprivation'll do that to you.

* * *

The next morning Kuronue awoke to the sound of Mikata eating breakfast. Or rather, the smell of it.

"Nnn…what is that?" the older bat mumbled sleepily.

"Kuro-nii!" the boy squealed excitedly. "Mikata got breakfast!"

"You what?" asked his companion, now shielding his eyes from the sun with his arm.

"Mikata got breakfast for Kuro-nii!"

"You _what?!_" Kuronue repeated, shooting up in his bed. "I told you not to leave the room!"

Mikata's smile fell.

"B-But, Mikata heard Kuro-nii's tummy go 'ruuumblummblll' and, and—"

His so called role model couldn't help but sweatdrop at the boy's attempt to imitate his stomach.

"You weren't supposed to leave because there are bad people down there. Remember?"

"But there are good people down there now, Kuro-nii," the child tried to explain. "The man with the beard gave Mikata the sandwiches!"

'_That was nice of him_,' The koumori thought, eying the remaining two ham sandwiches. '_Wait…that bartender didn't have a beard_.'

"Who gave you the sandwiches, Mikata?"

"The man with the beard."

Kuronue sighed. Children's logic. Might as well have offered him candy while he was at it.

"Kuro-nii?"

"Don't worry about it, kid," he replied, sitting down and digging into his first sandwich. "Just make sure you don't go off wandering around on your own again. Sometimes your 'good people' end up being 'not-so-good people.'"

After breakfast, the boys decided to continue on their way. Now that Kuronue had a map and some weapons at his disposal, life was going to be a lot easier.

Continuing their way down the rickety set of stairs that led back to the main bar area, the thief noticed that his travel toddler was right about the place. The only people in the bar were a man laughing loudly at the barkeep's joke and the barkeeper himself.

"I'm impressed, Pops!" Kuronue laughed. "Not a drunkie in sight!"

"You can bet I tossed each and every one of 'em out myself!" the barkeep boasted, flexing his arms.

But the thief had suddenly lost all interest in making chit chat with the large man. As soon as the bearded man at the bar turned around to face him, Kuronue's eyes widened in surprise. Memories started flooding into his tired brain. He barely felt his new little brother tugging at his shirt.

"See? See? Kuro-nii? That's the man with the beard that helped Mikata!"

"T-Toki?!"

"Beelzebub's sweet uncle! Is that you, Kuronue?!"

Kuronue immediately ran over to one of his former guild members with a mixture of shock and relief. Toki wasn't always the brightest member in the bunch, but his skill with a sword was extraordinary. At this point, Kuronue would've settled on the most annoying member of Youko's thievery guild as long as it got him some answers. Toki was more like an early Christmas present wrapped up in bar naps and alcohol wrappers.

"Great Inari's tailfeathers! You're a ghost, aren't you?!" the panicked swordsman shrieked and jumped straight off his bar stool. "The ghost of Kuronue!"

The thief didn't know where to begin. Should he explain to his old drinking buddy that he was a flesh and blood now or that Inari was a _fox_ and therefore had no tailfeathers. Toki took no notice of his comrade's dilemma and unsheathed his sword to protect himself.

'_Well that answers that_,' thought the bat. '_Ghost problem, first_.'

"I-I'm not afraid to use this on you, spirit!" whimpered Toki, his sword wavering as much as his sword.

"Shut the hell up and put that thing away," Kuronue ordered him, just as he used to back when they were on raids together. "I'm just as real as you are."

"W-What? But, but you…"

"Died?" the thief laughed. "Minor setback. I came back to have a couple more rounds with you guys before I call it quits for real."

This seemed to calm the other man down a little more.

"So you're really back?"

"Sure am."

"How long have you been back?"

"Not too long, actually," answered Kuronue. "Kind of a recent thing."

By this point, Toki had put his sword away and motioned for the two bats to join him at the bar.

"Something to drink?" the owner asked.

"I'll take a sake," the older bat said, then motioned to his companion. "And he'll take an apple juice."

The bartender went to fetch the drinks requested while his customers caught up with each other.

"You gotta tell me, man!" the thief exclaimed. "What's up with Kurama? No one here's ever heard of him! He didn't skip town on us, did he?"

Toki looked at the ground, sadly.

"Hey, been gone awhile here….fill me in," the bat started, voice beginning to lose its initial excitement. "Toki?"

"Um, y'see…he…he died, Kuro."

The ice in the thief's chest froze back into place.

"You're lying."

"N-No…I'm…" the swordsman hiccupped and choked back a sob. Toki had the appearance of a barbarian, but was a total softie on the inside.

"You're bloody _lying_!!" Kuronue shouted, enraged. At this point he didn't even care that he was letting his temper get to him. "You think that's funny or something, Toki?!"

His former teammate managed to pull himself together for his friend's sake.

"It's not funny at all, Kuro," he said in a tone of seriousness the bat didn't think he had in him. "It happened a year or two after you died…I cried for days…Hayabusa had to drag me outta the fort…"

Kuronue's heart sank. The ice he had felt in his chest now seemed to trickle down his insides and settle in his stomach. He had never felt so much despair before.

"Kurama…"

Mikata poked his head around his foster brother's shoulders and watched the conflicted emotions play across his face. Slowly, he reached his tiny hand up and patted Kuronue's cheek. He didn't like to see his new brother looking sad.

"Kuro-nii?"

The elder bat looked down at him in confusion, not quite expecting the action from his tiny companion. He did his best to smile for his sake.

"And HQ?"

"It's been abandoned for at least 15 years now. Without Youko there, everything's overgrown with plants," Toki informed him. "Me and 'Busa tried to visit a few years back, but it was too dangerous. Guess Youko didn't want anybody messing with his territory…"

Kuronue tried to smile again.

"What about you? What do you and the other guys do now?"

"Hayabusa and me mostly do odd jobs now," explained Toki. "Ume and the Queen just drink themselves into oblivion. They were pretty upset. I'm pretty sure Wattan just wanders nowadays. I don't know about the rest…"

"…."

"But hey, it looks like you've been a busy guy yourself, Kuro," Toki tried to lighten the mood.

"What do you mean?"

"You got a kid now, don't you?" the swordsman gestured towards Mikata. "What's your son's name, anyhow?"

"Mikata is Mikata," the boy answered, feeling safer with Kuronue there.

"That's a good name for a—"

"He's not my son," the bat answered, but winced a little at the harshness of his voice. He took a more natural tone to finish his statement. "He's more like…a little brother."

Toki smiled.

"That's good. I'm sure 'Busa would love to meet you guys!" he chuckled. "Bet he'll do a backflip when he sees you, Kuro!"

"I highly doubt that, Toki."

* * *

About an hour had passed until Hayabusa showed up. The three at the bar passed the time by talking about what went on in the last twenty years. Kuronue tried to explain the afterlife and his confusing reincarnation process to the best of his ability and Toki tried not to let on how much of his head was spinning. The swordsman in turn, filled Kuronue in on the current state of the Makai, with Youko's death throwing the balance of power off in Eastern Makai. Several rival thievery guilds tried to rise above the others in his absence, leading to chaos in the underground world. Not too long after, an Eastern lord had gotten his hands on a forbidden artifact and destroyed much of his own territory, including several smaller towns. It was a dangerous place to be nowadays.

When the red kitsune walked in, he was greeted by Toki and Kuronue. He dropped his bag and stared at the group with wide amber eyes. Despite his stoic demeanor, he felt the shock creeping into his expression as the man he had thought to be dead, asked him to buy him a drink.

"…Kuronue?"

"Hey, Haya-chan!" snickered the thief. "What's with that face? I only asked you to buy me _one_ drink!"

"Sit with us, partner!" Toki joined in. "You'll never believe who I ran into!"

"Have a seat, have a seat," the bat continued to laugh. "Damn, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

The newest arrival unsteadily took a seat beside his former guild member. Mikata quickly scurried onto Kuronue's lap, still wary of the new dusty red-haired man. He seemed like a friend of his foster brother's, but still had a sense of coldness about him. The barstool creaked under his weight, while Mikata watched him closely.

"What happened to you?" the fox finally asked.

"Long story."

"Who's this child—?"

"—Longer story."

"I'll fill ya in later, partner!" Toki chortled.

"It's incredible…" Hayabusa mused, waving away the barkeep. "I had thought that both of our leaders had died…"

Kuronue's smile dropped a little at this statement. He tried to ignore the ice water that continued to trickle throughout his body and chilling him. The fox noted his change in expression and smiled a bit.

"That is what I thought, Kuronue. Not what I believed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Obviously you're alive and well, but that's not all," clarified Hayabusa. "Kurama is far too powerful of a kitsune to pass on without me sensing it. I worked alongside him for many years and became very familiar with his lifeforce. I believe that if he were to ascend to the afterlife, I would feel it."

"You really think that?" asked Kuronue, his mood considerably improving.

"Yes," the fox replied. "Like you, I believe that Kurama is still out there somewhere."

Kuronue happily agreed.

"Now that you mention it, I did hear a rumor today about Youko showing up at the Dark Tournament," Toki said.

"No, kidding?" the thief asked in surprise. "That lameass tournament they hold in the Ningenkai?"

"Yeah," Toki confirmed, reaching into his bag to grab something. "I even scored a copy of it from some guy that had the Video Sphere!"

He pulled out something that resembled a chipped crystal ball that could fit in the palm of a person's hand.

"What'd you do? Step on it?" Kuronue asked, pointing at its crappy condition.

"Hey, I got it at a good price because it already looked like this!"

"As long as it still works," Hayabusa commented.

And with that, the little ball flickered to life in Toki's palm. A faint light shot up from the center of it and faded in on a short boy who was saying something about his grandma.

"You sure we got the right one?" the bat sweatdropped. "That kid has a freaking fishing pole. What kind of a tournament is that?"

"I can barely even hear it," the fox complained. "This quality is terrible."

"Shh! Shh! It's getting to the good part!" Toki urged them.

The images skipped to a red-haired boy getting caught in fog of some sort. The view then panned around the fog trapped around the arena as if it was some sort of a cage. The audience started getting as restless as the men watching it felt.

"This is the stupidest fight ever," huffed Kuronue. "You can't even see what's going on."

Suddenly the fog screen cleared up and the audience seemed to gasp. Two hazy figures started to come into view. There, in the center of the arena was none other than Youko Kurama. Nearby were the baffled announcer and a dead beast. The static-y audio picked up the crowd going wild with this revelation.

"Y'see! Y'see! I told you so!" the swordsman exclaimed, excitedly.

"Calm down, Toki," his partner instructed him. "We don't know that for sure."

Kuronue grabbed Toki's forearm to steady the image. As the fog cleared more, his friend seemed to transform back into the original redhead they had seen at the beginning. The bat made sure to imprint the face of the boy housing Youko's soul to his memory.

'_So, he didn't skip town…he skipped dimensions…'_

"It's him," Kuronue grinned. "It's gotta be him."

"How can you be sure?" asked the fox.

"Are you doubting the words of your second-in-command?!" Kuronue laughed, his hopes of finding his friend the highest they had been in days.

"_Former_ second-in-command," Hayabusa corrected him sarcastically.

"Yeah!" Toki cheered. "It's gotta be him! That's what I thought too!"

"Even if it is, what do you intend to do about it?" asked the red fox sharply.

"Oh, I don't know…" the bat played dumb. "Probably something along the lines of find him and drag him by his fluffy silver tails to the nearest bar, and make him buy me that beer he owes me."

"You're really gonna find the boss again?!" Toki practically squealed in delight. Which was quite the task, given his size.

"That's the plan."

"Then come with us."

Everyone looked at Hayabusa in confusion.

"That tournament took place in the Ningenkai, so that's where you should start looking," he explained. "If you want to get there, you can work with us for a few days until we go past Hag's Woods."

"Hag's Woods?"

"Correct. They say there's a witch living there that can transport people to the Ningenkai for a price, but I don't know what that is. You'll have to figure it out on your own."

"No problem," grinned Kuronue. "I'm sure we can work something out."

At that point he felt Mikata tugging on his sleeve again.

"You'll come with me too, right Mikata?" smiled the older bat. "And help me find Kurama?"

Mikata nodded happily.

"Well alright then! Let's get this convoy on the road!"

**----------------------------------------- END: Chap. 3**

**::A/N::**

Neko: I listen to a lot of music when writing, but I find that _shasl_ is easiest to write to Final Fantasy songs. Of course then I want to play said FF games, which leads to conflict. Conflict often resolved by chocolate ice cream.

Kuro: Aren't you supposed to talk about the story here?

Neko: Oh, right. That…yeah. It's slow. And so plot-directed. _(sweatdrops)_ Anem's so different because I can go off on as many tangents as I want…oh, well.

**Translation Corner------------------------**

I tend to include foreign words in my fics, so you can see definitions here. Feel free to correct anything wrong, or add anything you think I've missed. To shorten this list, most character names will appear in the chapter they were first introduced.

**Koumori **(Jap.) "Bat"

**Youkai** (Jap.) "Demon"

**Youki **(Jap.) "Demon Energy"

**Makai** (Jap.) "Demon World"

**Kitsune** (Jap.) "Fox"

**Reikai** (Jap.) "Spirit World"

**Sake** (Jap.) "Rice Wine"

**Toki** (Jap.) "Opportune Time" an OC I created to move the story along. He's a swordsman with a soft spot for little kids.

**Hayabusa** (Jap.) "I forget" another OC, he's a red fox that fights by possessing others.

**Ume** and **the Queen** (Jap.) more OCs, Umeko = "Plum blossom child" a drama queen with feelings of unrequited love for Youko. The Queen = Ringo = "Apple" a drag queen called the Queen as a nickname. The only thing he loved more than Youko was booze (also unrequited). As you can imagine, they didn't get along very well. These two may pop up later in the story.

**Wattan** (Jap.) "from the homeland" the final OC created for Youko's guild, he can teleport over short distances.

**Video Sphere** (Eng.) Taken from Final Fantasy X. They project images of events stored on them for the viewer to see. If they can have them in Spira, they can have them in Makai, dammit!


End file.
